Birthday Wishes
by Lissa Rae
Summary: Written September 2000. The gang treats Willow to a birthday to remember.


**Author's Notes: Set roughly two years after Season 4. A celebration of Willow's 21st was no Tara. Spike is still implanted, he doesn't care anymore. He and Buffy are tentative friends.**

* * *

Spike let himself into Willow and Buffy's apartment, smiling when he saw  
Buffy. "Good, you're here."

Buffy looked up from the couch, where she had been reading one of her  
textbooks. "Don't you ever knock?" she asked with a frown. "What if I was  
naked in here?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Then I'd get an eyeful, wouldn't I?" he said with a  
sardonic grin. He sat down next to her, leaning over to scan the cover of  
the book she was reading. "Psychology. You're still taking that?" he  
asked.

She nodded. "I think it's fascinating…" she said, trailing off as he got up  
and started to pace around the room. "What did you want, Spike?" she asked,  
realizing she had no idea why he was here.

"Tomorrow's Red's birthday," he said, looking fondly towards the door to  
Willow's bedroom. "I don't know what to do for her." He wandered over to  
an end table and picked up a bottle of strawberry essence that was lying  
there. He opened the bottle to smell it before putting it back down next to  
a large stack of spell books. "Any ideas?" he asked, turning back to look  
at Buffy.

"How long have you two been dating now?" she asked him.

"Nineteen months, twelve days, three hours and…" he looked down at his  
watch, "six minutes," Spike replied. Now it was her turn to raise an  
eyebrow at him.

"Obsess much?" she teased him. "Okay, well you should probably do something  
really romantic," she advised sagely.

He nodded, an idea obviously already forming in his head. "In that case, I  
need you gone tomorrow night," he told her, scowling down at her when she  
opened her mouth to protest.

"Fine," she pouted. "I mean, it **is** my house, but since it's for Willow,  
I'll leave."

"Good girl," Spike said, sending her a pleased grin. "Make Soldier Boy take  
you to a movie or something," he suggested.

Buffy just looked at him for a moment with a slight frown. "Why do you  
still call him Soldier Boy?" she asked as he walked into the kitchen,  
getting up to follow him.

He shrugged. "Why not?" he replied, opening the refrigerator to peer  
inside.

"Well maybe because he hasn't been a soldier for two years now?" she  
reminded him.

Spike frowned. "Has it really been that long?" He sighed. "Time just  
flies once you pass the century mark," he said wistfully, straightening up  
and going over to look in the cupboard.

Buffy hopped up on the counter. "What are you doing?" she finally asked,  
after watching him search through their canned food for a few minutes. "The  
blood's in the refrigerator, like always."

"I know," he said, sounding somewhat exasperated with all her questions.  
"I'm looking for something to cook for Willow tomorrow night."

She sorted in disbelief. "You cook?" she asked.

"Sort of," he shrugged. "Not very well."

"Get take out," she suggested, leaning over to close the cupboard door.  
"Trust me on this one."

*~*~*~*~*

"Good morning!" Buffy chirped the next morning, as she brought in a tray of  
food and placed it on Willow's bed. "Sorry it's so early, but I have an  
8:00 class I need to be at," she said sheepishly when her best friend glared  
first at her alarm clock, and then at Buffy.

"S'okay," Willow mumbled, sitting up and leaning back against the headboard.  
"Thanks for breakfast," she said, looking blearily down at the rather  
large tray of food, complete with a muffin with a candle in it. "You going  
to share it with me?" she asked with a grin.

"Sure," Buffy agreed, settling herself more comfortably on the bed. "Make a  
wish," she prompted gesturing towards the candle.

Willow took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and blew the candle out.

"You busy this afternoon?" Buffy asked, picking up a slice of toast.

"I have a class until three, but I'm free after that," Willow told her.  
"Why?"

"I'm taking you shopping," the blond replied. "For your birthday present.  
You're a hard girl to shop for, you know. I mean, how many spell books can  
one woman have?" She teased.

Willow laughed. "Okay, it's a plan," she agreed, taking a sip of coffee.  
She raised an eyebrow at the cup. "Starbucks?" she asked, knowing that  
Buffy was incapable of making a decent cup of coffee.

The blond managed to look offended for about half a second before breaking  
into a large grin and nodding. "You think I'd serve you my sludge on your  
birthday?" she asked. "C'mon Will, I love you more than that," she laughed.  
Glancing at the clock, she sighed and stood up, taking another piece of  
toast. "As much as I'd love to stick around and finish breakfast with you,  
I have to get to class," she said, leaning over to kiss Willow on the cheek.  
"Happy birthday Wills. Hope you get your birthday wish."

*~*~*~*~*

When Willow exited her chemistry class at 3:00, she found Buffy waiting  
outside the door for her. "Ready to go shopping?" the Slayer asked  
enthusiastically.

Willow grinned. "Yep. I am **so** ready to spend your money," she teased  
her.

They walked together out to the parking lot, where they found Xander  
standing outside his car, waiting for them. "Hey Xand," Willow greeted her  
childhood friend. "You coming with today?"

He nodded. "I was supposed to be your chauffeur for the afternoon," he  
said, then gave them a sheepish grin. "But we're going to have to take the  
bus."

Buffy looked up at him sharply. "What? Why?"

"I locked the keys in the car," he replied.

Willow glanced at the car, then started giggling.

"It's not **that** funny, Wills," Xander pouted after a few minutes.

Still unable to stop laughing, she merely pointed to the back door. Buffy  
followed her gaze, and chuckled. "I don't think we have a problem," she  
told Xander. "You left the windows down."

He had the good sense to blush. "Oh. Right. I knew that," he protested,  
reaching through the open window to unlock the door, then held it open as  
Willow and Buffy slid into the back seat. As he sat down in the driver's  
seat, Buffy looked at him regally. "To the mall, Driver," she commanded,  
and with a squeal of the tires and a terrified look from Willow, they were  
on their way.

Two hours later, they stepped out of the mall, Xander carrying so many bags  
and boxes that he couldn't see over them. Willow carefully led him to the  
car. Once their purchases had been safely stowed in the trunk, Xander  
turned to the girls. "Where to now?" he asked.

"My mom's house," Buffy replied, and noticing Willow's confused look, she  
explained. "We're going out, and Mom is closer than going all the way back  
to our place," she said.

"Where are we going?" Willow asked curiously.

"Surprise," was all Buffy would say, grinning mischievously.

They let themselves into the dark house when they arrived, and went upstairs  
with the bags of new clothes. Buffy helped Willow into a new light green  
slip dress they'd picked out, then played with her hair until it was tousled  
in dark red waves across her shoulders. The last part of their preparations  
was a light application of blush, clear mascara, and lip gloss, then the two  
girls ran back downstairs to the car. Buffy nodded to Xander, who knew what  
he was supposed to do next. Coming up to Willow, he held out a white silk  
scarf. "I'm going to blindfold you," he explained. She raised an eyebrow  
skeptically at him, then looked over at Buffy.

She nodded. "It's part of the surprise," she assured her as Xander went  
behind Willow to tie the scarf around her eyes. Then Buffy stepped forward  
to help Willow back into the car, and they were off again.

*~*~*~*~*

The car pulled up in front of the girls' apartment, and Buffy and Willow got  
out, Buffy still leading her best friend. Once she had walked Willow  
inside, she quietly snuck back out, closing the door behind her with a  
barely audible click.

Spike, who had been sitting on the couch, waiting for them, just looked at  
Willow for a moment. She looked lovely, the soft light of the candles  
placed around the room dancing off the crimson waves of her hair and shining  
on her pale skin, making it glow a soft gold. When she started fidgeting  
impatiently, he got up and gently pulled her blindfold off. "Happy  
birthday," he said softly, standing behind her.

Willow looked around, her green eyes open wide at the sight before her. The  
only light in the apartment was coming from hundreds of cream colored  
candles, and the air smelled faintly of vanilla and roses. The floor was  
strewn with velvety looking rose petals, and she could see through the  
archway a table set for two. Whirling around, she threw her arms around  
Spike's neck and kissed him. "Thank you," she whispered as they broke  
apart. "It's beautiful."

"So are you," he replied, his arms still around her waist. "Fancy dinner,  
luv?"

"I don't know…did you cook it?" she teased him with a raised eyebrow.

He shook his head. "The Slayer told me it would probably be better if I  
ordered in," he said.

Willow giggled. "She was probably right," she said. "So yes, let's have  
dinner," she answered, laughing at his look of mock outrage.

Spike sighed. "Fine," he replied, looking very put out. He escorted her  
into the dining room, pulling out her chair for her, then went to the stereo  
to turn on some soft, romantic music.

They talked quietly while they ate, not wanting to break the peaceful mood.  
Willow told Spike about her chemistry lab that afternoon, and the shopping  
trip with Buffy and Xander; he listened, and tried to control his laughter  
when she told him about Xander locking the keys in his car. "Stupid git,"  
he chuckled. "He'd lose his shoes if they weren't tied on."

When they'd finished with dinner, Spike disappeared into the kitchen for a  
few minutes, returning with a cake with 21 candles lit on it. "Happy  
birthday to you," he sang, slightly off-key. "Happy birthday to you. You  
live with a Slayer, but I still love you."

Willow giggled, and blew the candles out when he placed the cake in front of  
her. "How long did it take you to come up with the lyrics?" she teased him  
as he cut two large slices and put them on plates.

"All day," he said sheepishly, looking down at her. "You didn't think they  
were brilliant?"

"They were spectacular, Spike," she assured him with a wink. "And I love  
you too."

He kissed her, then handed her a plate and took her by the hand, pulling her  
into the living room. They sat down together on the couch. "So what did  
you wish for?" he asked. "Wait, don't tell me or it won't come true."

Willow shrugged. "It's kind of impossible anyway," she said. "I wished  
that this night would never end."

He smiled at her. "I can't help with that, but I can promise many more like  
it." He set his plate down on the coffee table, and kneeled in front of  
her. Her eyes widened as he pulled a tiny velvet box out of his pocket and  
opened it up, displaying a beautiful diamond ring.

"Will you marry me?"


End file.
